Air India joins Star Alliance group

An Air India Airlines Boeing 787 dreamliner takes part in a flying display during the 50th Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airport near Paris, June 14, 2013.
REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/Files

NEW DELHI Air India Ltd has joined the Star Alliance group of carriers, a spokesman said on Tuesday, a move that could help boost revenues at the loss-making state-run airline.

Executives at Star Alliance met with Air India officials in London on Monday and agreed for the airline, which has been in talks to join since last year, to become its 27th member, Air India spokesman Praveen Bhatnagar told Reuters.

Air India will formally complete the process by mid-July, Bhatnagar said.

Membership allows Air India to share routes with the other airlines to more than 1,200 destinations, helping it to compete with Gulf carriers like Emirates, which have increased their share of long-distance flights into and out of India.

MUMBAI State Bank of India has agreed to sell a 3.9 percent stake in its life insurance arm to affiliates of KKR and Temasek for 17.94 billion rupees ($266 million), the nation's biggest lender said on Friday.